


Wasn't Expecting That ~ Jugpea *Riverdale*

by PrincessMeganFire



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 21:53:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20365684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessMeganFire/pseuds/PrincessMeganFire
Summary: It was only a smile but my heart it went wildI wasn't expecting thatJust a delicate kiss, anyone could've missedI wasn't expecting thatJust two guys trying to work out what they have with one another.





	1. Chapter 1

Jughead Jones would be lying if he said he wasn't completely freaked out by transferring to Southside High. Not only were his very minimal amount of friends here at Riverdale High, but Southside High was the honing beacon of all drugs and sex-tapes. He didn't want to go, and his father didn't want him to go either. Jughead had gone to see him a lot since he'd been convicted, even once with the family adopting him so that FP could get some certain things across. It wasn't that the family were mean or untrustworthy or anything, FP just needed to make sure he didn't end up locked away for longer then he needed to be, and to make sure that Jughead wouldn't end up in here with him.

The family was called the Bennett's. Vera Bennett, who was forty-seven, and her husband Craig Bennett, who was forty-eight, had decided to adopt Jughead in hope that being around other people would make their shy and blind daughter Andrea make friends. They hadn't entirely trusted him to begin with, he was still FP's son, no matter how good he was, but they soon gave way to his isolated and cold body, despite him not exactly being able to perform the task they had taken him in for.

Jughead never spoke to Andrea, and Andrea never spoke to him. To the young teens, the other was just there, and that's how it went. Vera tried to make Jughead feel as at home as possible, giving him his own room, making him yummy breakfast in the morning, she even bought him a dog! But Jughead wasn't happy. Jughead was many things, mostly incomprehensible, but he wasn't happy. Nothing seemed to click between him and this rather happy-go-lucky household, so Jughead set up a deal with the Bennett's.

He wasn't very good at it, negotiating, it was usually the thing FP did with his serpents who threated to step out or with people who could get him into a lot of trouble, but Jughead never needed to. He wasn't selling, nor was he buying, and he didn't even come across a situation where negotiating was needed, but he managed it just this once.

"Jughead, sweetie, are you ok?" Vera had asked, placing a palm on Jughead's cheek. He'd only been there for two days, just the first weekend, and he was already sick. He couldn't live there. "I'm fine," he'd grumbled, glaring the woman in the eye. They had to wait for the last person, Andrea, to join before he could get started anywhere, in case that she would be an excuse that Vera or Craig used for whatever reason. He needed to be completely safe.

Andrea moved slowly into the room, her light footsteps barely audible as she slid into the chair next to her fathers. She coughed gently, bringing everyone's attention to her, and indicated for Jughead to start.

Jughead cleared his throat before looking Vera, who was directly opposite, at the other head of the table, dead in the eye, clasping his hands together firmly across the dining table. "I would like to make you a deal in order for me to be able to go back and live in my dad's trailer." He waited for a moment, letting the others speak their thoughts. Vera was the first to go, just as Jughead had assumed she would. "We can't do that! What if the cops found out? And we're happy that you're here, and you're happy! Right?" Jughead knew what she wanted the answer to be. Vera had always wanted two kids, but after having Andrea, it was soon discovered that she couldn't have anymore, so when she saw that she had the chance of a second child, and a boy no less, she took it. Jughead sighed. "No, I'm not, which is why I wanted to bring this up. The cops won't find out, they never come round here, and I've had mutual encounters with the sheriff's son, along with him being friend's with my girlfriend." Craig placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, shaking it slightly. He knew Jughead wasn't happy with them, and he wasn't going to force him into something he didn't want to do, not like his own old man did.

XX~•~•XX

Now Jughead's preparing for his first day at Southside High, where he knows no one, and everyone else will be out for the new kids blood. It'll be: who can steal the newbies beanie first, who can make him their special little bitch, who will be the first to reject him in front of everyone. He felt like he was going to be sick, exactly the same way he always felt at the start of a new school year at Riverdale High, the same as he's always felt at the start of any new year or school. Southside High was no different.

He was in his ordinary clothes, not being a guy who favoured much about change, and left his father's trailer with a large frown gracing over his face.

Sunnyside Trailer Park wasn't that far away from Southside High, but to be fair, everything is close together on the Southside, especially considering how little of it there actually is. There weren't any gates or anyway school signs, just a parking lot (A/N: I'm not American but I'll try to use their language) full of teens who looked like it'd be worth not bothering them, especially with their grotesque faces and horrific tattoo's shaming their faces. The walls of the school were covered in graffiti that had collected itself over the years, barely any brick left to see. The front doors looked as though they were hanging on their last hinges, the glass on its miniscule window cracked. Cigarettes and lighters littered the floor, along with drug packaging and anything vaguely educational, though those were generally torn to shreds first. Empty litterbins with all the litter surrounding every other place, knives in odd places, appearing to be "hidden", though rather poorly at that, and dead birds and squirrels scattered about. The dead animals nerved Jughead - it meant to students killed for sport. And though he wasn't the biggest pigeon fan in the world, the thought of having a little competition against other boys, much like the video game ones he'd previously had with Archie Andrews, just felt plain wrong. The whole school simply felt wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

He was reckless, he was stupid. He was a right idiot sometimes. He had more enemies then he had friends. He always came home with a black eye or a bloody nose. His parents didn't care about him, he was just there. He was in a gang. He had anger issues. He only fully trusted two people. His life was a mess. His name was Sweet Pea.

What most people didn't get about Sweet Pea was why he was the way he was. Why did he have trust issues? Why did he have anger issues? Why does he never listen? And, to be fair, Sweet Pea knows they all think this stuff. He can practically read peoples thoughts who aren't in the Southside Serpents. Yes, that's right. He's a Serpent. A young leader, some call him. Attached only to Toni Topaz and Fangs Fogaty, a boy who only trusted them and their gang leader, only a little bit less, FP. FP knew about the state Sweet Pea was living in, and often offered his jobs and little runs to do in order to give the boy money without changing his image into this charitable man giving the lost boy money. That would ruin both their lives. 

Then there was his home life. Sweet Pea's mum, Delaney, and his father, Espin, originally naming him Cameron. Cameron Cruz, son of Delaney Cruz and Espin Cruz, little brother to Daniel Cruz and Maria Cruz, neither who liked him very much. Daniel, or Dan, as they all called him, was in a different Southside gang: the Ghoulies. He'd tried to get Sweet Pea into it, ease him in his way with drugs and cigarettes and ink tattoo's all over his face and arms, but he didn't. Sweet Pea didn't mind the drug dealing, or the tattoo's, but he had been friends with Toni and Fangs for years, and they said that if they were to join a gang, they'd join together, and Toni was already a Southside Serpent, simply by blood. He was thirteen at this point, smoking and vaping and downing packet after packet of Fizzle Rocks and Jingle Jangle, yet none of his family seemed to stop him. 

Maria used to be in the Ghoulies, but got kicked out after most of her drug delivers were never made. Turns out that she and her working partner, some guy named Knuckles, made a usual derelict spot at the side of an A-Road to snog and have late night sex, consuming most of the drugs they were supposed to be selling. Delaney, Espin, and Dan weren't mad. Dan was slightly annoyed to be know as the guy whose sister ate all the drugs, which he was soon known for, but his light grudge went away once the Ghoulies started calling him Skinner, a name that had caught on after a small bunch of Northsider's thought it'd be a fun prank to pull to egg all of Sunnyside Trailer Park one Halloween night. All of them were in hospital the next morning to say the least. 

Maria had a nickname. They'd called her Foxy, being the hottest girl in the Ghoulies. The hottest girl on the Southside. The hottest girl in Riverdale. She'd had plenty of One Night Stands with many of her fellow Ghoulies, most of them ending up rocketing away in her families trailer, meaning many uncomfortable and awkward nights for Sweet Pea. It never bothered their parents, for most of the time Dan did the same, once screwing a Southside Serpent so hard that she bailed on them to be in the Ghoulies, with him, baring in mind, ignoring the whole concept of a One Night Stand. 

Maria was only three years older then Sweet Pea, Dan six. Sweet Pea had always looked up to them in some weird way, hoping one day they'd change a little bit and be better role models, hoping that they'd realise how he felt and were doing things right. But they never did. They never noticed, they never changed, meaning Sweet Pea didn't either. Until he joined the Serpents.

The Serpents weren't nearly half the things that Maria and Dan had persisted they were, and Sweet Pea felt a lot more alive and at home surrounded the Serpents then he ever that on those one-off times that Dan took him to the Ghoulies. As soon as he was initiated, everything changed. His parents still didn't care, still not minding what he did or what he chose, but Maria and Dan did. Despite not being a Ghoulie any more, Maria had a history with them. She'd made her name with them. Everyone called her Foxy now. She was real pissed that he hadn't even tried to pull his weight with them, earn his name. Dan, on the other hand, was fuming. When his brother came home with a Serpent tattoo on his neck and a snake bite on his hand, blood streaming away three days before he was due to turn fourteen, Dan beat the living shit out of him. But Sweet Pea didn't care. Skinner could do all he wanted, but Sweet Pea was still a Serpent. A Southside Serpent, alongside his best friends.

His name. Sweet Pea. It had caught on within a matter of minutes, literally. Foxy was allergic to them, so he tended to always have that scent on him from tormenting his sister with them, leaving them on her bed, placing a petal or two in her drinks, anything that'd make her stop and think for a minute as to why he'd do it. Why he'd spend all this money on stupid little flowers. Sweet Pea knew why he did it, it wasn't just an annoying little brother thing. It was a do-you-still-regret-not-stopping-Skinner-beat-me-everyday thing. Making her stop and think about him for once. But it never happened, and until it did, she'd be receiving a lot of sweet peas. 

Fangs had commented on the scent once, making Toni notice it too. She gave her friends hand, which was wrapped around his shoulders, a quick sniff before teasingly calling him that. Sweet Pea always overreacted, calling her other certain things in a childish manner. Sweet Pea soon became a common nickname for Toni and Fangs, and when Joaquin DeSantos joined the Serpents three months later, that was what he learnt Sweet Pea's name to be. Its what everyone learnt his name to be. Stupid, reckless, idiotic Sweet Pea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, how did you enjoy that? I certainly enjoyed writing it! So, I have no idea about the concept of Sweet Pea's family so I looked it up, but nothing was there so I decided to create my own little one for him. I got the idea of him having an older brother who starts him off on the gang life from a different Jugpea fanfiction, one on Archive Of Our Own, and I always quite liked the idea of him having an older sister, I'm not sure why I see it, I just do. Also, from here on out Dan and Maria will be known as Skinner and Foxy, apparent gangster names off the internet, unless it says otherwise. I will soon be explaining Fangs nickname as well, and I have an idea for it from a headcanon I saw. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and MAY THE FORCE OF JUGPEA WITH YOU!
> 
> ~Megan


	3. Chapter 3

Jughead walked through the scanners, setting them off almost instantly. He groaned as the security guard looked up, an unimpressed look on his face. Jughead assumed he got beepers all the time, probably from people trying to sneak in knives and guns. A pretty petty thing to attempt to do, in Jughead's opinion, but by the looks of the students, most of them probably had spares simply in their back pockets. Staring the security guard dead in the eye, he spoke: "It's the pins in my hat," his fingers flying upwards. Though the security guard didn't appear to believe him, he answered with: "Take it, go again." Jughead dramatically threw his hat on the side, groaning in the process before moodily walking through the scanners. Jughead's guess was that a lot of people here were violent for fun, and whilst nothing happened with the teachers getting involved, the odd punch or two or perhaps even a riot, to the extent of a gun or a knife or some sort of weapon probably needed to be avoided.

"Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third." Jughead looked up as he grabbed his hat to a girl who looked around his age, mousy brown hair with light magenta streaks, a blue bandanna wrapped just above her forehead. She carried a camera in her hands, to which he snapped his picture, something that despite Jughead not being used to or even liked, he didn't make a big deal out of it. He didn't even know this girl. She wore a black crop-top that showed a lot of skin, the bands over her shoulders being very thin; a small golden ball in her bellybutton, but then again, Jughead had already seen someone with at least eleven piercings before, so unlike Riverdale High, he guessed bellybutton piercings were allowed here as well; a blue checkered thin jacket wrapped around her slim waist; and a pair of black jeans. Jughead was pretty sure that no one looked like that back at Riverdale High.

"Uh, it's Jughead, actually." He replied, checking to see if all his things were still in his bag before zipping it up and slinking it over his shoulder. "I'm Toni Topaz," she said as Jughead pulled his signature beanie back over his head. "I was supposed to give you the full animatronic tour of Southside High, but some of the robots went insane and started killing the guests, so we'll just wing it." Jughead nodded and followed her lead as she twisted round on the balls of her feet and began to walk away.

XX~•~•XX

"The classrooms don't have WiFi, the bathroom stalls don't have doors," Toni explained in a bored voice as she and Jughead made their way down a flight of stairs. Charming, Jughead thought. This place really has nothing. As far as he could tell, this was practically prison for those unfortunate enough to live in the catchment area. However, one thing here did spark his interest: when he found out he would be transferring to Southside High, himself and Elizabeth Cooper, more commonly known as Betty, had done some research and had found out that the school had a news paper, very much like the Blue And Gold of Riverdale High, but instead was the Red And Black. And that's what he wanted to know about. "What about the school paper, the Red And Black?" He asked, dodging all the shady-looking students on the stairs. Toni let out a long and hard sigh as they neared the bottom, ready to take on the rest of the school. "Yeah, it no longer exists. Censorship? Budget cuts? Take your pick." As unpleasing as it was to hear that this deranged school didn't have something so simple as a school paper, Jughead couldn't exactly say he was surprised. This was the sort of place that sold peanut butter or jelly, though neither here would probably be worth tasting. 

As Toni's eyes glanced to the right, the area now growing open a little bit, Jughead could see even more graffiti and wrappers all over the floor, mostly from drugs or alcohol cans. It was disgusting, it smelt disgusting, but Jughead knew that in a place like this, he either had to like it or love. "To your right, you'll find a rare glimpse of Jingle-Jangle being consumed in its natural habitat." Jughead's eyes lingered on a group of rough-looking students downing the said item, one winking at his horrified face with a smirk that played on his lips once the tube had been pulled away from his lips. Jughead couldn't place his finger on what that Jingle-Jangle was, but it surely wasn't good. "I'm sorry, Jingle-Jangle?" Jughead questioned, his mind still not being able to erase the pungent image from his brain. "This place is crawling with the JJ," Toni said, and judging by her expression, it wasn't surprising either. Southside High definitely wasn't the place where you could get a brownie out of a vending machine, that was for sure. "Highly addictive, total gutter drugs, so let's not touch that." The expression on Jughead's face was confused to say the least. He knew that some students at Riverdale High took drugs, it wasn't something that any one high school could miss out on, but never could he have imagined a school so addicted to one that no teachers seemed the least worried about students consuming it in one specific hallway, especially with the floor being littered in the packaging. "Jingle-Jangle, fascinating."

Neither one touched on that subject much more as Toni lead Jughead straight through to the cafeteria, another place which had Jughead's skin crawling. "Alright, here in the cafetorium, the Ghoulies sit over there," Jughead glanced to where Toni's finger pointed, shuddering at the sight of the creepy-ass students. They were definitely the ones from outside on the parking lot, the ones with the grotesque faces and horrific tattoos. The ones who looked about their age plus four years. The ones Jughead knew he had to be weary about. "Rival gang, drugs dealers, street racers, rumors of cannibalism, don't ask." Toni said, confirming Jughead's mildly concerning thoughts about them. "And we sit over there, with the Serpents." Toni walked forwards, leaving Jughead not entirely sure what to do. Though she obviously considered him a Serpent, he himself wasn't so sure. He may be a Serpent by blood, but he didn't feel like he was a Serpent by heart. 

Jughead quickly decided to resolve his dilemma by following her, questioning one certain thing that had been playing on his mind the minute she had spoken about the seating arrangements. "You're a Southside Serpent?" Toni looked up at him and gave him a knowing smirk. "Why do you think I volunteered to give you the tour? Come on," she lead him though a gap between two sets of high steel bars that lead up to the ceiling, bars that Jughead knew that Riverdale High would never be found dead hoarding in it's own cafeteria.

Knowing that Toni was a Serpent, knowing that she thought he was one, though that he fitted in and worked the same way as everyone else made Jughead feel sick. He was a weirdo. He liked being a weirdo. He didn't want to raise her expectations, especially since she had been nice enough to show him around and explain the way the school worked, the first person to talk to him and probably his first friend, if he got to know her better. He didn't want to lie to her, he didn't want to put her in the position that made herself look stupid. He didn't want to do to her what the Bulldogs and other sorts of jocks at Riverdale High always did to him. 

"Actually, I'm going to sit alone, just gonna finish finish my book and brood." Toni's eyebrows furrowed - she certainly hadn't expected that to come out of Jughead's mouth, the son of the Serpent King. "I'm confused - aren't you, like, a Serpent by blood? The son of FP Jones?" Jughead shrugged, not entirely sure why she was fighting this. Had she seen the way he looked? The way he talked? His annoying, dull, low voice? He had tried to do things simply, but now he knew. She only wanted to give him a tour because her Serpent King was his dad. To be in the good books of his dad. Jughead was almost certain that if he wasn't FP's son, she wouldn't be here right now. But still, ignoring the feeling of betrayal, he continued: "Yeah, so? I self-identify as a loner, I'm not a pack animal. I'm just gonna put my head down and try and get through this, ok?" He patted her shoulder before turning his back, ready to get things over and done with, but she wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that chapter was a little bit longer. I hope you enjoyed it, though it was mostly elaborating on the scene we all saw, so hopefully we can next time get into a bit of actual fanfiction.
> 
> ~ Megan


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey! You wanna get through this, you should hang with the Serpents. The Ghoulies get a whiff that your alone and vulnerable, they'll make you their bitch faster then you can say American History X." Toni crossed her arms and walked away, sliding into a seat alongside the Serpents.

It wasn't that Jughead didn't trust her judgement, or that he was just plain reckless, he simply missed his part to play in Riverdale High. He missed the Blue And Gold, he missed his friends, he missed just going to an empty classroom to work on his novel, he missed not having to be afraid of everything that moved. That's right, Jughead was afraid. Afraid of this freaky-ass school with all the fucking graffiti and terrifying students. He was being careful around the Ghoulies, but he wasn't ready to stick by the side of the gang that split his family up all those years ago.

XX~•~•XX

He was by himself in the trailer, no dad, no friends, certainly no mum and sister, just Jughead. At least, it was just Jughead. He headed over to the door, pulling it open slightly to see no one less then Andrea on the other side. Personally, he couldn't think of anything less anticlimactic, especially with the raging thunderstorm ongoing behind her.

She was soaked through the the bone, simply passing forward a book-shaped gift wrapped up in a plastic bag. She didn't say much, just crossed her arms over her chest and juttered as Jughead slightly took the object out of her hands. "Y-you l-left it u-under your b-b-bed." She stammered quietly, hopping from one foot to the other. "Thought you'd want it back." Jughead nodded, unsure of what to do. If he invited her inside, it'd by awkward; if he said anything to her, his words would be awkward; if he left her out in the rain, it'd be awkward. The silence that followed was even more so.

Thankfully for him, Andrea seemed to get the hint that he didn't exactly want her around, and practically raced back to her parents car in a way that Jughead had never seen her do before. However, the surprise was not enough to make him want to stand in the chilly doorway anymore, so he went back inside and locked up.

Sitting down on the crappy sofa that he had, Jughead unwrapped the book and read the title: Conspiracies & Hypotheses. Betty had given him that for Christmas when they were thirteen, when his conspiracies and hypotheses really got out there. He'd never intended to actually use it, but he'd be kidding himself if he didn't admit that he was far off needing a new one. Although, it had only really been filled in the recent year, filled with all stuff about Jason's murder, the Blossom-Cooper family in general, the Lodge family, and the Black Hood. It even included little weird diagrams next to words or things even a great writer like Jughead couldn't describe, and his tatty handwriting was scrawled in all places on the page, from on the line going left to right to upside codes to see if any words fit or doing it backwards like in some cultures to free up space. He never let anyone see the book, oh no, because he knew that one peak and they'd think he was crazy. A teenage kid obsessed with his fellow classmates murder? A serial killer? A criminal? A crazy-ass family full of crazy-ass people? He'd been tempted to show Betty once, but even her keen eye would have been swayed, he knew, so he didn't. The book was his little secret, and his alone.

Jughead wanted to write more in it, write down his thoughts on Southside High, the teachers, the pupils, Toni, in case anything was in line or lead to something that could help with the mystery of the Black Hood. It wasn't like a diary, it didn't start with how he felt and the experiences throughout the day, it went more like writing Southside High as a title across the next clean page, luckily the last one was fully filled (things like writing on the next page when that last still had space annoyed Jughead), and writing the names of the students that he knew on the left-hand side, one by one, little dashed on what he had gathered about them, if he thought they could be involved. Then there were the teachers, and he wrote exactly the same. His hand began to get clammy, the way it always did when he desperately needed to get something down, and he knew it wouldn't stop until all the information was poured out across the page in writing only he could understand, in a way that made him look insane, in a way that people knew that he knew he was.

XX~•~•XX

Toni leant against the bar in The White Wyrm, sitting on a stool and giggling giddily as she was given too much to drink. She would be so screwed for school tomorrow. But that's how most students were that attended Southside High, some even brought alcohol to school, yet teachers did nothing about it. They'd take it away if it was brought up, but only take a swig and then hand it back at the end of the lesson. Toni knew it was crap, they all knew it was crap, which is why she was so confused by Jughead.

Jughead was FP's som, practically the Harry Potter of the Southside Serpents. The phrase: 'There won't be a single child in our world who doesn't know his name' was true in this case, so she knew he came from Riverdale High, which was odd because it was a so much better school, with better students, better facilities, better teachers, the whole lot. Then there was FP. If Jughead has suddenly shown an interest in being like him, in joining the Serpents, then Toni could understand him moving here. If FP wanted him too, then she could understand. Except Jughead didn't want to be here, he'd made that quite clear at lunch. And FP couldn't have made him transfer because he was in prison.

"Hey Toni, whatcha doing?" Toni's train of thought railed away as she turned to her left to see one of her best friends, Fangs Fogarty, sitting in a barstool beside her. "You look terrible." She rolled her eyes and smirked, of course Fangs was outright and blunt. That was a trait he didn't exactly like about himself, but Toni was used to it by now, and didn't exactly want it to stop.

"Just thinking," she replied after a while, again thinking about something completely different. "What about?" Fangs questioned, taking a swig of the random beverage the bartender had just handed him. Toni was pretty sure it was just Budweiser, but another part of her was unsure if that drink was even legal, especially once Fangs had started spluttering it up. They could hear the quiet chuckle of the bartender behind them, even with the loudness of the bar.

"I was thinking about the new kid, FP's kid, the one I had to show around today. I just can't work him out." Toni balanced her head on her elbow, groaning slightly in annoyance. She didn't know it had been bugging her until now, and she bloody well didn't like it. Fangs rubbed her shoulder slightly and said: "Bring him over to us tomorrow, maybe he just needs a bigger welcome committee."


	5. Chapter 5

Toni decided to heed Fangs advice and, against Jughead's better wishes, took him to the Serpents table, forcing him into the seat beside her.

"Jughead," she began, nodding towards Fangs, "this is Fangs. He wanted to meet you." Jughead nodded, not really comfortable with the whole ordeal as he and Fangs shook hands. The simply shake turned into a full-blown conversation - all the Serpents were joining in! As much as Jughead didn't want to admit it, spending time with the Serpents wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought it would be, in fact, he was having a great time! That was, until a new figure made his way to the table, grunting in a way Jughead had never heard, but it appeared the rest took it as a greeting, so he decided he would too.

A tall stature complete with broad shoulders and overly gelled hair, a tight jacket of leather not doing a very good job of hiding those intensely muscled biceps which, for some odd reason, Jughead couldn't help but stare at. On the side of his neck was a Serpent tattoo, bright and shining as if he'd just washed it, and Jughead knew he must have had guts if he wanted it on his neck. Jughead didn't particularly want one anywhere, but if he did, he would definitely not put it on his neck, the pain would most likely be too extravagant to handle.

The boy, even though Jughead was quite certain he was more of a man, came and sat down between Toni and Fangs, directly opposite Jughead. As if unsure by the whole situation, Toni's hand flew to the guys shoulder and, shaking it a little bit (even though Jughead wouldn't dare touch him), spoke up. "Jughead, this is Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea, this is Jughead, FP's boy, so don't mess him up." It was at that point that Jughead was certain that they were only being nice to him because FP was his dad, but he didn't want to pointedly object. Although he hated this basic lying-to-get-in-the-leaders-good-books concept, he was also sure that if he said anything then he wouldn't be waking up tomorrow. Or the day after. Or even the next.

Sweet Pea nodded in Jughead's direction, eyeing him up and down. Jughead decided that by the glint in his eye, if Sweet Pea didn't like him, he was done for. He knew that if he were on Sweet Pea's side and staring another boy down and Sweet Pea didn't like him, he'd definitely follow up Sweet Pea's decision. "You're cute." It came as a surprise, one Jughead didn't entirely know the meaning of, but by the smirks on Toni's and Fangs's faces, he took it as a good sign. He wanted to feel like a part of this, but it didn't stop him blushing though, not by a long shot.

To say the rest of lunch was awkward would be an understatement. By the time Jughead was back at his trailer, he'd already face-planted his couch. After Sweet Pea had left at lunch, Toni and Fangs had spent the rest of the day teasing and pestering him, and now he was quite glad to be back at his trailer. Home sweet home.

Something to know about Jughead is, that he doesn't like horror movies (A/N: Like me, LOL), not in the least. Neither jump scares, not that knowing that stopped the Bulldogs from doing it back at Riverdale High. Anyway, he despised them, and despite knowing there was no scientific evidence for any of the things in the indecisive (and lets be honest, they are because they can never decide who to kill first) and grotesque things that happen in them, it doesn't stop him from being jumpy and considering the What If's. So of course, turning on his meek little television screen to find Annabel playing on the channel he always watched wasn't the best, especially with his inability to tear his eyes away from the screen. He couldn't help it, watching any part of a horror movie and not seeing how it ended just spooked him. He thought about the What If's, and had them playing in his head til he was screaming at night. And now, not even his dad was home to wake him up from the horrible nightmares. And already, whats done is done.

XX~•~•XX

Sweet Pea hung around Jughead's locker early in the morning the following day, unaware that he even was until Fangs and Toni came along and pointed it out.

"Dude, we waited by your trailer for half an hour. Where were you?" Fangs asked, tatty red and black tartan rucksack falling off've his shoulder. Sweet Pea didn't notice. "I went to school early this morning, though it did take a lot to find my bike keys. My idiot brother hid them again." Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at the thought. Ever since he joined the Serpents, Skinner had been messing around with everything Sweet Pea owned, hoping that the little continuous irritations over the years would finally break him, finally make Sweet Pea beg to to stop. But they didn't, so it was more of a joke on Skinner, really, as he went through all that trouble to make Sweet Pea's life hell with burning his clothes, forgetting to buy him food, hiding his things, ripping holes in his Serpents jacket, and even tried to murder Hot Dog a couple of times. But nothing.

"Do you realize that you're stood in front of Jughead's locker? Are you waiting for him?2 Toni questioned, a knowing smirk on her face as she recognized the ol' locker 213 as the one she'd led Jughead to for the past week. Only God knows why he hasn't picked up on the directions yet. Sweet Pea shrugged. "First off, I wasn't waiting for him. Secondly, even if I was, it'd be his very lucky day to have me at his locker." Fangs choked down on a laugh. "But you are at his locker, mind telling us why?" Sweet Pea could do so many things, lying being a big one that he was particularly proud of. Not even his best friends could see through him. "The vending machine on the other side of the school broke, so I was waiting for the line to die on this one." He jerked his head in the direction of a very unsustainable-looking vending machine. The glass was cracked, it gave out false change, it sometimes wouldn't even take the money. It was so close to breaking, and it was the last one out of the five originals left standing on school grounds. Everyone expected it to be that way, to be fair. They were honestly surprised that it had even stayed up this long.

Suddenly, a tired distressed-looking Jughead wallowed up to them, begrudgedly asking Sweet Pea to move out of the way so that he could stack today's books in onto one of the unbroken shelves. Sweet Pea and Fangs were shocked at both his appearance and the fact that he was the first to speak, but Toni was on the Serpent Prince's trail immediately. "Are you ok?" She asked softly, placing a calming hand on Jughead's shoulder. The boy shrugged it off before turning to look at her and her fellow Serpents. "Rough night," he muttered, voice croaky and sore as though he'd been crying. "I better get to class." And with that, the increasingly loud bell rang out loud and signified the first period of the day.


	6. Chapter 6

Sweet Pea was sat in third period debating on what to do. On one hand, the Serpent Prince looked absolutely adorable in the state he was in; on the other hand, Jughead was obviously not up for sharing, and Sweet Pea doubted he ever would be.

Fangs, who sat beside him in this particular subject, noticed his friends unawareness, and proceeded to punch his arm to snap him out of it. Once he'd done so, Sweet Pea recoiled his arm back in surprise. "What was that for?" He hissed, noticing that their teacher, Mr Finn, was glaring at them out of the corner of his speckled glasses. "Dude, whats up with you? You've been out of it all lesson, and break, and last lesson, and also first period." Sweet Pea groaned and slammed his head on the table, earning a few glances from the other students. Fangs sighed and patted his friends back, knowing better than to press him when he was in this mood.

"It's just... I can't stop thinking about that bloody kid and I just really want him out my!" Sweet Pea hissed from his heads place on his desk, growling lowly. Fangs smirked. "Well, I think I know what's up now." Sweet Pea pulled his head up in surprise. "What?" Fangs shrugged with a knowing smile. "How long has this been going on?"  
"Since I met him."  
"And why did you wait by his locker this morning?"  
"FP didn't leave til late last night, I wanted to make sure he was ok!"  
"And googoo eyes at his misfortune?"  
"You've got to admit he looked adorable."  
Fangs nodded subtly. "Yes, he did. But guess what Sweets, you've got a crush. Welcome to the wonderful world of mushy crushyness, but you're better Of with Toni than me. She gets a lot more action." Sweet Pea felt his face going hot just as the bell rang, signalling that it was lunch time.

XX~•~•XX

Jugheads third period lesson seemed to drag on forever. It was Media, and at least he had it with Toni, but he just couldn't concentrate. He wasn't sure why, but that tall, handsome serpent had intrigued him yesterday, so he'd waited til his dad got back to ask him about it, albeit he did stutter and have shaky legs from his previous scare, but FP had told him about Sweet Pea, about his ambitions, about his successes, but also about his anger issues (IED) and how he was clearly a bit of a fuckboy, just going for people here and there. He'd blamed his family, but Jughead knew better then to judge people on who they were related to. That's why he had so few friends at Riverdale High. 

All of a sudden, the bell rang, and before the teacher could even dismiss, half the class were out the door. Jughead and Toni were the last ones in the classroom, Toni waiting by Jugheads side as he began piling his things into his satchel. By this point, even Miss Dover had left the room.

At the sudden emptiness, Toni decides to tackle Sweet Peas interest in the boy head on. "Kiss, marry, kill: me, Fangs, or Sweet Pea." She wasn't entirely sure why she'd started like that, in fact, she was internally kicking herself about it, but it seemed to have sparked interest in Jughead so she counted it as a win.

"Um, probably kiss you, no offence, then... I feel bad but I'd probably kill Fangs, which means I'd marry Sweet Pea... fuck." Toni chuckled. "Why'd you marry Sweet Pea? You'd still have o kiss him at the alter, you'd just be making a life-long decision about it." Jughead shrugged. "I'm not sure, but there we go."

That was when the two previous strangers walked out of Business Studies talking about the Serpent Prince marrying the IED boy.

XX~•~•XX

Fangs groaned as Sweet Pea went into another rant about Jughead. Somehow deciphering his little crush had turned against him, and flicked him into the hellhole of boredom.

Eventually, Jughead and Toni joined them on their outdoor table, Toni grinning mischievously towards Sweet Pea. Jughead has already pleaded her not to tell, but this was Toni, and once Jughead became friends with her, he was in the big leagues. And in the big leagues, there are no secrets, or so he's told.

"So, Jughead and I were just playing Kiss, Marry, Kill-"   
"She means she was asking me one round of Kiss, Marry, Kill." Jughead interjected. Toni rolled her eyes and continued through his ignored statement. "And so he said he'd kill you, Fangs; kiss me; and marry Sweet Pea." Sweet Pea turned bright red, and almost missed Fangs yell of hey!

The Serpent Prince has chosen to marry him. Not Toni because she was a girl, not Fangs because he was good-looking and kind, but him. To be honest, Sweet Pea knew that Jughead hadn't known them that long, but to already have chosen him in that, well, Sweet Pea would usually say that's just his luck, but right now it felt like a miracle.

A miracle that was so suddenly shattered when a Ghoulie came over. Venom, everyone called him, because somehow the gang names were put on the register instead of their real ones, whether that was because the teachers asked for names that they'd be known as rather then full real ones or simply because that's what the parents put down, it didn't matter. Either way, their was a Ghoulie stood at the head of their table.

And his hand was reaching down towards Jugheads thigh.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I'm Megan, and I have currently watched every episode. This is my proper Riverdale fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy, and I apologize for any literary mistakes or stuff like the reason he's at Southside High and stuff, I'm just going off what I remember and what I look up. Anyway, please leave comments and kudos, I'll really appreciate it!
> 
> ~Megan


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